Collateral understood before the loan is booked
Independent evaluations for commercial loans of $500,000 or less.
In 2018 the Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC raised the threshold for commercial real estate transactions requiring an appraisal from $250,000 to $500,000. At or below it, a lender may use an evaluation, which need not follow USPAP or be completed by a licensed or certified appraiser. We prepare those evaluations, independent of the borrower and the loan officer.
What small commercial loans need
Distance from the deal
A credit file reads better when the value comes from outside the deal and the lending line.
Thin local comparables
Small-town Wyoming collateral may have few recent sales within an hour’s drive.
Leases behind the income
The borrower’s rent roll needs checking against signed leases before it supports a value.
A clear threshold line
Above $500,000 the lender needs a licensed appraisal, and we say so at scoping.
Formats lenders ask for
Valuation advisory report
A site visit, the approaches that fit and a sensitivity table in a 25 to 40 page report. From $3,500.
Lease abstract
Each lease behind the borrower’s rent roll read and abstracted, conflicts flagged. From $275 per lease.
Market rent benchmark
Market rents as a range, when a pro forma’s rents need testing. From $1,500 per property.
Property valuation
Every valuation format we offer, and when a licensed appraisal is the right call instead.
From order to credit file
- Day 1
Lender engages us
The engagement letter is with your institution; the borrower sends documents but never sets scope.
- Weeks 1 to 3
Visit, read, price
Site visit, leases tied to the rent roll and the approaches that fit, in 10 to 15 business days.
- Week 3
Report and review call
The consulting report goes to the credit officer you name, with a call to walk through it.
Questions from lenders
Will a regulator accept your evaluation?
We cannot promise that, and nobody honestly can. Your institution decides whether a given evaluation meets its policy for the transaction, and that judgment stays with your credit team. We write to the scope you set, show every comparable and assumption, and state plainly in the report that it is not an appraisal.
What if the loan is over $500,000?
Then the lender needs a licensed appraisal, and our report cannot stand in for it. The 2018 threshold set by the Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC is $500,000 for commercial real estate transactions. Above it, we can scope the question and coordinate a licensed appraiser, or supply lease abstracts for the appraiser’s file.
Are you independent of the borrower?
Yes. The engagement is with the lender, the fee is fixed and owed whether or not the loan closes, and we take no commissions from anyone. We do not take instructions on the number from the loan officer or the borrower. The borrower supplies documents and site access, and nothing more.
Do your evaluations follow USPAP?
No, and an evaluation does not have to. Under the 2018 rule from the Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC, an evaluation need not follow USPAP or be completed by a state licensed or certified appraiser. Our reports are consulting reports: the approaches used, the comparables, the assumptions and a sensitivity table, all in writing.
Can you evaluate rural or small-town collateral?
Yes, anywhere in Wyoming. Where recent sales are scarce, we widen the comparable search, lean on the income approach where leases support it, and say in the report how thin the evidence is. Visits in Laramie County are included; elsewhere, travel is billed at cost and quoted before you sign.
Tell us what you own
A free 30-minute call, a few plain questions, and a fixed-fee quote in writing.